International News: 14/08/2020

 ASIA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 91,274

Total Cases:5,392,294

New Deaths:1,499

Total Deaths:115,635

India: India on Thursday registered 1,006 new coronavirus deaths, bringing the total death toll to 48,144 according to Johns Hopkins University tally. Overall confirmed cases rose by 64,142 in the past 24 hours bringing the country's total coronavirus cases to 2,459,613.

China: A woman in central China's Hubei Province has again tested positive for COVID-19, months after her recovery from the disease, local authorities said on Wednesday. The 68-year-old retiree, in the city of Jingzhou, was admitted to hospital after falling ill on August 9 and a following COVID-19 nucleic acid test showed a positive result, said the Jingzhou COVID-19 epidemic control and prevention headquarters.

Beirut: The World Health Organization (WHO) found that among 55 health care facilities, assessed by WHO in Beirut's city, half of them were "non-functional". Three major hospitals had to close and three more had to reduce their capacity following the blast. The damage caused by last week's deadly explosion in Beirut continues to hamper health care in the Lebanese capital. More than 200 people died and more than 6,000 were injured in the blast. Dr. Richard Brennan , the WHO's regional emergency director, said over half of the health care facilities were found to be "non-functional", leaving Beirut short of 500 hospital beds as it continues to deal with thousands of injured residents.

         Dr. Brennan stressed restoring health care facilities as far as possible to treat those injured and to deal with a recent surge in coronavirus cases. Lebanon has had 7,121 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to health ministry figures released on Tuesday. There have been 87 COVID-19 related deaths. Dr. Brennan praised Lebanon's response to the pandemic saying it had done an "impressive job" tackling it. But he warned that there had been "an up-stick in the number of cases prior to the blast". He added that the country had registered its higher number of daily cases on Tuesday. "While we have to still continue to respond the consequences of the blast, we also need to stay vigilant with respect to COVID-19", he urged.

NORTH AMERICA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 66,930

Total Cases: 6,374,865

New Deaths: 2,141

Total Deaths: 242,424

-USA: USA saw 1,500 deaths from COVID-19 related causes on Wednesday-the highest number in a single day since mid-May. At least 166,000 people have now died of coronavirus in the US and infections are still on the rise.

-Mexico: Mexico registered 5858 new cases on Thursday to 498,555 expected to reach more than half a million confirmed coronavirus cases very soon. The capital, Mexico city, has the highest number of infections followed by the surrounding Mexico state, Guanajuato and Tobasco. More than 54,000 people have died from the disease.

          The country has also seen its unemployment rate rise as a result of the pandemic. Official figures suggest that on average more than five jobs have been lost every minute between March and July.

SOUTH AMERICA

-Coronavirus

New Cases:94,046 (highest new infections within 24 hours)

Total Cases: 5,072,985 ( reach 5 million mark)

New Deaths: 2,239 (highest new deaths within 24 hours)

Total Deaths: 171,361

Peru: Peru had a new daily record high with 8,875 reaching 498,555 on Wednesday. Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti said the number of children who've been infected has gone up since the lockdown was lifted. She said that in total 81 children had died of COVID-19 related diseases. from the 23,000 children who had tested positive. She also announced that a total lockdown would be enforced on the next two Sundays to curb the spread of infections. 

EUROPE

-Coronavirus

New Cases:21,049

Total Cases:3,103,562

New Deaths:360

Total Deaths:202,168

Spain: The Spanish region of Galicia has effectively banned smoking in public places over concerns it increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The move is supported by health ministry research which outline the link between smoking and the increased spread of coronavirus. It said the risk was heightened because people project droplets --and potentially COVID-19--when they exhale smoke. The research also pointed that smoking is associated with higher risk of developing a severe form of symptoms. Similar measures have been imposed elsewhere, such as in South Africa where the sale of tobacco was banned at the end of March.

(Note: In Spain, daily cases of coronavirus have risen throughout August. It recorded 1,690 new cases in the latest daily count on Wednesday, bringing the country's total to almost 330,000.)

AFRICA

-Coronavirus

New Cases:10,476

Total Cases:1,088,777

New Deaths:405

Total Deaths:24,727

-Sudan: Sudan has surprised its international consumers by banning the export of raw peanuts. The country has decided it wants to process raw peanuts within the country and export what it claims will be more profitable secondary products. Many of Sudan's leading exporters companies were wrong-footed by what they said was a sudden move. "We, as an exporting company, were very much surprised by the decision because there was no advance notice for us in an appropriate period in order to prepare", Rimaz Ahmed, Commercial Director of Abnaa Sayed Elobeid says.

(Note: The export ban is particularly striking given that Sudan is the fifth biggest producer of peanuts globally. The two main consumers for peanuts from Sudan were China and Indonesia.)

Zimbabwe: Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said a new era had started on the health sector. "Things will never be the same again. We are restructuring and reforming our health delivery system. We want to rebuild the structures from village to referral level. Things will never be the same again but we must work together", Chiwenga said after his recent appointment as health minister.

      However, the public health sector is currently dodged by numerous challenges including endless strikes by nurses, and other health workers, over poor salaries and working conditions. The health workers are forced to operate without PPE during the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic. The striking workers are also demanding their salaries in US dollars. Government has adamantly rejected the demands saying it was not printing foreign currency. "I am the Minister of Health and we are faced with a pandemic. We are getting daily updates on COVID-19 and Mr. COVID-19 kills. The current state of affairs should not remain like this.", he said. Many Zimbabweans have expressed doubt a top government official (known for chartering flights to receive foreign treatment.)

[Note: Vice President Constantino Chiwenga is also the health minister of Zimbabwe.]

OCEANIA

-Coronavirus

New Cases:244

Total Cases:24,408

New Deaths:9

Total Deaths:387

-Australia: Australia is battling a second wave in its south-east, with about 8,000 active cases in Melbourne and smaller clusters in Sydney. But elsewhere around the country, the virus has effectively been eliminated. Australia's remote Northern Territory (NT) will keep its borders closed to coronavirus-affected states for at least another 18 months, officials say. 

(Note: Last week, Queensland re-closed its borders to New South Wales--which includes Sydney and the Australian Capital territory.)